WESSLING receives patent for innovative analytical method BagFerm

21 Feb 2019

BagFerm is an experimental biogas plant on a scale of 1:1000, which can be used to precisely analyse how efficient a fermentation substrate is. WESSLING was now issued the patent right for this innovative system.

The BagFerm method provides important information for biogas plant operators, substrate suppliers and seed breeders about how efficient their fermentation substrate is, whether the selected maize variety achieves optimal results for the substrate, or which new substrates, for example, could replace maize in the biogas plant. The answers to these questions ultimately form the basis for achieving an optimum gas yield, i.e. fully exploiting the potential of a biogas plant.

“We are very pleased that we have now obtained the patent rights for the development of this system,” says biogas expert Matthias Post, who was significantly involved in the development at WESSLING. This is another patent that underlines the expertise of WESSLING. “For us, BagFerm offers successful proof that it always pays to listen to the customer, and to know their requests and needs exactly,” says Carsten Lammers, Business Unit Manager of Agricultural Services at WESSLING. “With the customer's needs in mind, we have the ability to develop innovative ideas through to market maturity.”

How BagFerm works

BagFerm illustrates the real fermentation process of a biogas plant. Organic matter is decomposed at the heart of the process, a 1:1000 scale fermenter. Here, hundreds of different substrate samples ferment simultaneously under the same conditions. The outcome is exact fermentation conditions and comparable analysis results that can be used in the final laboratory analysis to make precise statements about the efficiency of the substrate.